IcExcellence

Tomer Yariv and Adi Morag, the two members of this dynamic Israeli percussion duo, were each drawn to percussion in childhood, at the age of 11. After meeting at Alon Bor´s studio, they established PercaDu under Bor´s guidance in 1996. Tomer served in the Israeli army with the IDF Band and Adi with the Air Force Band. They gained more expertise and experience in Copenhagen, Denmark, and graduated from the prestigious soloists´ class of the Royal Academy of Music. Their unique style of virtuoso, energetic playing has been generating worldwide interest and enthusiasm ever since.

In 2001, the duo was taken under the wing of the Jerusalem Music Centre, founded by Maestro Isaac Stern. The collaboration with JMC led to the production of their premiere CD, PercaDu - Works for Marimba and Percussion, and commissions for several pieces composed especially for them.

In 2006 PercaDu was invited to give a solo concert as special guests of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) under the baton of Maestro Zubin Mehta. They played a new concerto written especially for them by Avner Dorman. A few months later they joined Mehta at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. They have also performed with the Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra under Conductor Yaron Gottfried, fellow IcExcellence chosen artist, playing Gottfried´s Concerto for PercaDu and Orchestra. They are also regular participants at the Israel Festival in Jerusalem. Percadu is scheduled to perform with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009.

PercaDu´s repertoire consists mostly of compositions written expressly for the duo by contemporary classical composers. These include international composers Askell Masson (Iceland), Salvador Brotons (Spain), Per Norgard (Denmark), Nigel Westlake (Australia), Andres Koppel (Denmark), and the Israelis Avner Dorman, Yaron Gottfried, Lior Navok, Yehezkel Raz and Yossef Bardenashvily. Both Adi and Tomer also compose their own pieces and perform their own arrangements to classical pieces by Bach, Vivaldi, Chopin, Ravel, Liszt and others. Their non-classical repertoire includes Marimba Spiritual by Minoru Miki, Gyro by Tomer Yariv, Shacharit for Two Marimbas and Didgeridoo by Adi Morag, Light as a Feather by Ronald Stock, Omphalo Centric Lecture by Nigel Westlake and Funk Rondo by Tomer Yariv.

In addition to their flourishing classical music career, PercaDu has branched out to Israeli music and world music. They have had great success participating in such diverse venues as the Arts Festival in Reykjavík, Iceland; the Jazz Festival in Eilat; the Jazz Festival in Kaunas, Lithuania - twice due to popular demand; the Jazz Festival in Tallinn, Estonia; a wonderful cooperative effort with the Peridance Company in a New York performance; and joint shows throughout Israel combining classical and world music. They currently divide their time between Israel and tours in Europe, the US and the Far East, giving recitals and master classes, performing at different festivals, and playing as soloists with orchestras.